What Is The Third
Estate?
Everything
What Has It Been Until Now In The Political Order?
Nothing
What Does It Want To Be?
Something

Bad Biden! No Biscuit!

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

As promised, I am going to defend Clinton, Edwards, and Obama from Biden's critique. I am not going to obsess about the controversy about Biden's remarks - I listened to the tape, and I think people who are accusing Biden of being a racist are being a little harsh. Instead, I want to focus on his other comments slamming his rivals.

Biden calls Hillary's plan to cap troop levels in Iraq a disaster, claims that Barack Obama doesn't have the experience to be President and lacks specificity in his Iraq proposals, and says that Edwards' plan to withdraw 40,000 troops will result in chaos and the end of American influence in the region.

Other than the jibe at Obama's experience, all of Biden's critiques revolve around the competing Iraq policies. Given Barack's speech yesterday, it is unfair to say that he lacks specificity - he wants a phased withdrawal and benchmarks. That's as clear as any other proposal out there.

Hillary, Obama, and Barack are each clearly trying to prevent a surge and apply pressure to the Iraqi government through a variety of means. This seems like a reasonable policy as far as it goes. I fail to understand why their strategies are prima faciae any less realistic or responsible than Biden's plan of de facto partionment. The difficulty with Iraq policy (other than the risks of political demagogy) is that every plan carries with it the possibility of intensified civil war or even a regional war. I see no reason to call any of the plans a "disaster" or claim that the people proposing them "don't know what they are talking about."

Some civility with your fellow Democrats, and a little humility regarding your own policy please Senator.